... to think that MN has some very fixed views about financial issues?

My DH and I have quite different jobs and earn different money. We sat down and talked about it when we first moved in after nine months together and when the income inequality wasn't as big as it is now. At that time, we agreed I'd pay 55% of our shared bills (rent and utilities), he'd pay 45% and we'd both keep the difference of our own salaries, whilst taking food shopping/any eating out etc in turns.

When we got married, I also got promoted - and we agreed we'd get a joint account for shared expenses, this time now including food, entertaining and presents; my % of household spend went up, his went down. But also keep our separate accounts so we both have our own pin money/disposable income (mainly so he can't get judgy about how much I spend on books and I can't object to his occasional, once yearly spend on guitar pedals..!) We are ttc at present. Once (hoping for BFP soon) we have our pfb we will include childcare costs as a shared bill, but still retain our slightly separate financial situations. It means I can sometimes afford to treat us to a holiday - rather than trying to budget for it within joint finances, which wouldn't stretch - and so have been a bit surprised by some of the 'what's his is mine, and what's mine is his, end of' attitude on some other discussions of late.

AIBU to think that a marriage can have some shared expenditure, particularly on all household and joint things, including childcare, whilst still keeping some elements of financial independence from each other? I am - admittedly - touchy about money, as I grew up super-skint and therefore find talking about it quite difficult (one too many times watching my Mum crying about the gas bill) and keen to retain some measure of financial independence. He's much less fussed really. Both of us are on the deeds for the house and worked out that if something terrible happened and we broke up we'd split the house 50/50 regardless of who put in more. But other people seem to have very different ideas. I'd be very interested to find out why?

I just don't see the point in all those percentages. You've obviously put a lot of thought into how to make it fair - but wouldn't it be simpler and easier to just pay everything that has to be paid, including food and childcare, and then what's left is fun money, which can be joint or can be split down the middle if you prefer to be independent in your spending.

I think a lot of it depends on what money you have. DH and I have separate accounts. He works full time (when there's work) and I earn the odd 10 here an there. Our monthly expenses are often the same as, if not more than his earnings. I can 'treat myself' if I've earned some money that week and he can 'treat himself' if any money's left after the bills are paid. If I was taking money out of his account when he had it there for a bill that was due then it would fuck us up.

As a general rule there is no spare money. If one of the kids needs new shoes we talk about to see who can spare the cash at that time.

There is no consensus about joint accounts vs individual accounts - people speak strongly for both, either way.

What does raise loud objections is when there is no agreement between partners in how finances are managed (resulting in constant argument), when one is clearly taking the piss (eg today's thread where one is paying for nothing and stealing from his partner's account), when there's lack of trust and a lot of score keeping (yesterday's thread) and when there is out and out financial abuse.

We got married quite young (24 and 26) and both had skint upbringing. We entered married life with a very different financial background, I had no debts because I worked all the way through uni, dh had a student loan and thousands to pay back. We both worked ft.We got a joint account straight away where all monies went in, and all bills went out from. His paying back his debt was part of our marriage. His salary went up constantly because we agreed one of us would stay at home at least 1.5 years with each child and that was me. So I earned a lot less going back part time and now he earns 5 times what I earn(ed, just packed in my job).I'm going to retrain and possibly earn a lot more in the future.

There has never been "your" and "my" money, it has always been ours, regardless of who earned it. We never saw the need to draw up plans who pays how many % of which bill. Discussing who pays for what. How does this work when you have kids? We look into the account, see what we can afford and buy it. I usually do the homework on big purchases as I've got the time, and then I run it past dh.

I think everyone has to find a system that works for them. If one of us would constantly buy expensive stuff it would be an issue, but we both share the same ethics on money: never spend what you don't have. (except mortgage), in fact dh is the one who tends to favour the more expensive stuff as it lasts longer.We've been doing fine for over 15 years with our system and we never had an argument about money.

Separate doesn't have to be fiddly or time consuming - we have ours set up so everything is done by direct debits and standing orders, literally the only transactions are taking cash out of the machine and spending via debit and credit cards - it would be exactly the same with joint accounts, except you would have to keep track more so you both weren't planning to use the same chunk of money for different things on the same day. So if anything, separate is easier, I always know exactly how much money I have available. We might move a chunk of money around once in a while to even things out (and I'm talking maybe once a year here) but otherwise our set-up totally takes care of itself.

I had a joint account with my ex DP several years ago and hell would have to freeze over before I did it again.When we seperated it caused all manner of problems and my solicitor told me he actively discourages his clients from putting all money into one account.

My DH have separate accounts but we share everything according to how much we earn. I've never had a problem with it and he's very generous with his cash anyway.

I wouldn't want to pool my finances with a man who begrudged me spending money on bags books. But then I wouldn't want to live with one either...Which is why I don't really get that argument.

I am not financially independent, because I am not independent. I am in partnership with my DH. However, I have a good income, we have equivalent savings and pensions arrangements, and if we splits, I am in a position to become independent.

Yanbu, the general majority believe that all money should be joint especially those that are SAHMs.

Whilst we do have joint accounts as its suits us, i see no reason couples shouldnt have seperate accounts as long as bills are paid equally. Not everyone does things the same way or believe that all income is theirs regardless of who went out to work for it.

We don't have a "one pot" household here either. I'm not married though, and unless our circumstances change, it's not going change. We have a joint account for direct debit bills & a generous food budget (includes occasional meals out and cinema). Bills included in joint are everything joint only - mobile phones not included, and he doesn't pay for my car insurance (he has a company car). Examples of other individual small monthly direct debits are his Spotify account (I don't have a device to use it) and my Graze boxes.

He is quite crap with money by his own admission - we earn a similar amount each month (he earns slightly more) but never seems to have any money left over after going to the pub every week. He's also a smoker, so I guess it adds up. I spend a fortune once a year on the gym... wouldn't expect him to pay hundreds for that haha!

I won't merge finances totally and put everything in one pot until he is debt free and learns how to budget and live within his means. I've loaned him loads of money over the years (and I was the one unemployed for a while - and still paying half of all bills) and althoughbecause I love him I want him to learn the hard way and pay it all back - not get a free ride. So, until then, I'm not going to be making life easy for him to spend loads of money he hasn't got. And I'm not going to put myself in a position where I'm constantly angry at him spending £££ on things when he should be paying me back.

It's easy while we're marriage-free, child-free, earning roughly the same, are both able-bodied and both in full time employment. Will need a rethink when that changes.